Pablo José Mongelo Lima (born 11 October 1986), more known as Pablo Lima, is a Brazilian former professional padel player. He considered the best player in his country's history in the sport. Alongside his former partner Juani Mieres, he managed to challenge the best pair in the history of professional padel, Fernando Belasteguín and Juan Martín Díaz. After that pair split in 2015, Lima teamed with Belasteguín, becoming the undisputed kings of the circuit until losing the number 1 ranking in 2018.
Career First years Lima began his padel career at the age of 9 with his father at the Hormiga Club in his hometown of Porto Alegre. He frequently represented his country's junior team and achieved a remarkable record, starting in 2004, that allowed him to enter the Spanish padel circuit under the guidance of Roby Gattiker, who was impressed by his playing style and dedication and convinced him to become his partner during the 2006 and 2007 seasons.
2008–2014 He began his role as a "revelation" player by forming a team with his compatriot Marcello Jardim, reaching the quarterfinals 14 times and the semifinals 4 times despite an ankle injury that caused him great discomfort in developing the padel he would have liked. From that year onwards, so fruitful in sporting achievements, he formed the legendary pair of "Princes" alongside Juani Mieres, winning many titles such as Madrid, Logroño, Salamanca and Seville Open's, and also reaching finals in Almería, Madrid, San Sebastián and Barcelona. He then teamed up with Juani Mieres, with whom he became the second best pair on the circuit and regullary facing the kings of the circuit, the Argentinians Fernando Belasteguín and Juan Martín Díaz.
Partnership with Fernando Belasteguín 2015
Following the separation with Juan Martin Díaz, 13-time world number one Fernando Belasteguín invited Lima to become his new partener. Lima accepted the offer, ending his six-year partnership with Juani Mieres. Mieres subsequently partnered with Juan Martín Díaz. Belasteguín and Lima began the season in the Barcelona Open, reaching the semifinals, but were forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained by Lima. While Lima recovered, Belasteguín competed in the next two tournaments with Willy Lahoz, winning both. With Lima's return, thy won their first title together in the Río Gallegos Open, beating Maxi Sánchez and Sanyo Gutiérrez in the final. After this win, they began a dominant run, winning the next five Open tournaments in Valladolid, Mallorca, Málaga, La Nucía, and Monte Carlo.
In the Mallorca, Málaga, and La Nucía finals, they defeated Sánchez and Belasteguín's former partner, Juan Martín Díaz. Their winning streak ended in the Madrid Open, where they were eliminated in the first round via walkover, due to a Belasteguín injury. They returned to competition winning five consecutive Open's, in Seville, A Coruña, Dubai, Euskadi, and Valencia. They finished the season in the Madrid Master Final, where they were forced to withdraw in the semifinals against Díaz and Sánchez, due to a Lima injury. Belasteguín finished the season as the ranked No. 1, having won 13 out of 16 tournaments, with all three defeats coming from injury withdraws.
2016 Lima and Bela began the new season winning the Gijón Open. During the Valencia Master, Belasteguín and Lima were eliminated in the semifinals by Paquito Navarro and Sanyo Gutiérrez, their main rivals during the 2016 and 2017 seasons. They responded winning the Barcelona Master, and the Las Rozas de Madrid, Palma de Mallorca, Valladolid, and Las Palmas Open's. In three of these five finals, they defeated Paquito and Sanyo. The winning streak ended in the La Nucía Open, where they were forced to withdraw from the final.
Belasteguín and Lima won the next four tournament finals, with three of them being against Paquito and Sanyo. Despite not competing in the Mendoza Open due to a Belasteguín injury, they won the Buenos Aires Master and the San Sebastián Open, defeating Navarro and Gutiérrez in both finals. They concluded the season reaching the semifinals of the Master Final. With 12 out of 16 tournaments won, with Pablo Lima, Belasteguín reached 15 consecutive years as the world No. 1 ranked, for which he was presented with a commemorative plaque by the World Padel Tour.
2017 The 2017 season with Belasteguín and Lima losing two consecutive finals to Paquito Navarro and Sanyo Gutiérrez. They responded winning the Barcelona Master and the A Coruña Open, but were forced to withdraw from the final of the Valladolid Open due to a Belasteguín injury, which gave Navarro and Gutiérrez their third title of the season. With Belasteguín injured, they missed the one more tournament, the Mijas Open, and returned to competition in the Gran Canaria Open, exiting in the quarterfinals. In the Alicante Open, Belasteguín and Lima reached the final, and avenged their defeats, beating Paquito and Sanyo to win the tournament.
At the Seville Open, the two teams faced off once again in the final. Before the final, each team had reached six finals and won three titles during the season. Navarro and Gutiérrez won the match, with Navarro lifting the trophy in his hometown. Belasteguín and Lima avenged the loss, defeating them in the Portugal Master final. They faced each other again in the Andorra Open final, losing it and now having one less title than Paquito and Sanyo. After beating Navarro and Gutiérrez in the Granada Open final, both teams were tied with ten finals contested and five titles each.
With four tournaments remaining, Belasteguín and Lima won the Zaragoza Open, defeating the third-ranked pair of Matías Díaz and Maxi Sánchez. They followed it, winning the Buenos Aires Master, beating Navarro and Gutiérrez in the final and extending their advantage in the No. 1 Ranking race. Despite losing the Bilbao Open, reaching the final secured them the No. 1 Ranking. At the Master Final, Belasteguín and Lima avenged the previous loss to Díaz and Sánchez in the finals of the tournament, closing the season with eight out of sixteen tournaments won.
Injuries and final seasons with Belasteguín 2018 Belasteguín and Lima had a difficult start of the season, in the dispute to retain No.1 Ranking for a fourth consecutive year. They started the season being unexpectedly eliminated in the semifinals of the Catalonia Master, by Juan Lebrón and Juan Belluati. Despite winning the Alicante Open, they failed to win any of the next three tournaments. They didn't compete in the Zaragoza Open, were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Jaén Open, and exited in the round of 16 at the Valladolid Open.
These results allowed Sanyo Gutiérrez and Maxi Sánchez, who had won three of the first five tournaments, threatening the No. 1 position that Lima had since 2015. Belasteguín and Lima responded winning the Valencia Master, which allowed to distance themself in the Ranking race, and winning the Båstad Open, defeating Juan Martín Díaz and Paquito Navarro in the final. During the Mijas Open, Belasteguín suffered a severe elbow injury that forced the team to withdraw from the quarter-finals. Halfway through the season, they remained ranked No. 1, though Gutiérrez and Sánchez had reached six finals and won four titles compared to Belasteguín and Lima's three finals and two titles.
The injury Belasteguín sustained in Mijas, sidelined him for several months, forcing him to miss the Andorra and Lugo Open's, the Portugal Master, the Granada Open and Euskadi Open's, the Argentina Master, and the Murcia Open. During this period while Belasteguín recovered, Lima temporarily held the No. 1 Ranking alone, competing with Agustín Gómez Silingo and Paquito Navarro and winning the Bilbao Open and reaching the final of the Murcia Open with the latter. But after Gutiérrez and Sánchez won the Portugal Master, Sánchez assumed the No. 1 Ranking, a position which he and Sanyo would retained for the rest of the season, ending the Brazilian-Argentine 3-year reign as the world number one ranked team.
After a four-month absence, Belasteguín returned in the final tournament of the season, the 2018 Madrid Master Final, reuniting with Lima. They reached the final, and defeated the new No. 1 ranked team, Sanyo and Maxi (7–6, 6–3).
2019
In 2019, Belasteguín and Lima continued competing together, aiming to reclaim the No. 1 Ranking. They began the season with two semifinal losses, in the Marbella Master and the Logroño Open, losing on both occasions to Juan Lebrón and Paquito Navarro. They reached the final of the Alicante Open, but again lost to Lebrón and Paquito. They reached two more semifinals, in the Vigo and Jaén Open's, again losing to Lebrón and Navarro. Due to these results, Belasteguín opted to end the partnership, with both players agreeing to complete together at the Buenos Aires Master, Valladolid Master, and Båstad Open, before breaking up. At the Buenos Aires Master, they reached the final, where they faced Alejandro Galán and Juani Mieres. However, they were forced to withdraw in the first set, with a 5–5 score, due to injury.
Belasteguín and Lima concluded their partnership with three consecutive seasons as the top-ranked team. They played 44 finals and won 35 titles together.
Partnership with Alejandro Galán
After the separation, Lima choose Alejandro Galán as his new partner, They debuted in the Valencia Open, reaching the final and winning the tournament. They also won the next tournament, the Mijas Open. Their first loss came against in the Madrid Master quarter-finals, but they bounced back winning the Portugal Master, their third tournament title in four disputed. In the last four tournaments they're best result were two semi-finals, in the São Paulo Open, in Lima's home country, and in Mexico. In the Master Finals, World Padel Tour end of season tournament, they defeated Augustín Tapia and Fernando Belasteguín in the final, winning their fourth tournament of the season.
Despite winning four of the nine tournaments they played together, Galán and Lima opted to part ways, with Lima becoming Paquito Navarro's new sporting partner.
2020
In the first and only tournament of the season before the COVID-19 break, the Marbella Master, Lima and Paquito defeated Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón in the final. Three months after the shutdown, they returned to competition reaching the final of the Estrella Damm Open, in a rematch with Galán and Lebrón, losing in two sets. In the next six tournaments, the Spanish-Brazilian pair reached four semi-finals but were unable to progress in any of them. In the tenth tournament of the season, the Las Rozas Open, Lima and Paquito reached their third final of the season but do to a Lima injury they had to forfeit the last match. The injury obtained in Las Rozas also forced Lima to miss the Master Finals.
2021
In 2021 due to the disappointing results of the previous season, Lima and Paquito opted to split as team, with Agustín Tapia chosen as his next partner. Despiste reaching two semi-finals in their first four tournaments together, the duo wasn't able to reach a final until the fifth tournament of the season, the Marbella Master where they we're supposed to face Alejandro Galán and Juan Lebrón but had to forfeti due to an injury. Two early exits in the next two tournaments were followed by a title win in the Las Rozas Open , where the Brazilian-Argentinian duo defeated the number one reanked team, Galán and Lebrón, in the semi-finals and the number two ranked Belasteguín and Gutiérrez in the final. In the following tournament, the Málaga Open, they reached another final defeating the third ranked pair, Martin Di Nenno and Paquito Navarro.